


Forever and Never

by InLust



Category: Elementary (TV)
Genre: Adventures, F/F, Pirate AU, Sexual Tension, Sociopathic characters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-15
Updated: 2015-12-15
Packaged: 2018-05-06 20:31:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,709
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5429825
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InLust/pseuds/InLust
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Pirate AU. Moriarty is a wanted pirate and Joan is a commodore for the British Royal Navy set to capture her but unintentionally ends up getting brought on Moriarty’s quest.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Forever and Never

**Author's Note:**

> this is from a really old prompt on my tumblr nocteverbascio.tumblr   
> I feel like I have no idea what I’m doing but I’ve been sitting on this idea for awhile about how Moriarty is a wanted pirate and Joan is a commodore for the British Royal Navy set to capture her but unintentionally ends up getting brought on Moriarty’s quest. Any constructive criticism is welcome! I love talking ship and love hearing other people’s opinions so feel free to drop me something!

The commodore is pushed into the room without much resistance. It was clear that her time on the Game was long withstanding. She is glad that her work allowed for her men’s passage but now she had to pay the price.

“ _Commodore_ ,” the first mate, Moriarty addressed as  _Ortiz_ , regards with a smile on her face. “Please make yourself comfortable.” She smirks before closing the door to the quarters behind her.

Joan chases after the closing door but hears a low thump, locking her in. She punches the door once.

The adrenaline from her sword fight with Captain Moriarty still runs through her veins. One day, she will be sure to best the pirate.

Joan sighs in resignation before she stares at the space before her.

Captain Moriarty is meticulously organized for a pirate. Her quarters are cleaned and organized in a manner that almost makes Joan feels like she’s intruding on something private in the pirate’s mind. She has texts, maps, silks, clothing, medicines, various instruments, and many other things that have made their place.

Then again, she is a chameleon. She speaks with such beautiful elegance that anyone would become ensnared in her spell. She had an ability to slip into any skin she’d like. Evident to when Joan had first met her, Jamie Moriarty was playing a young noblewoman, kind, polite,  _weak_. The captain in actuality was nothing of the sort.

Everyone knows of  _the Pirate_  Moriarty. The ruthlessness, brutal, and cruel pirate that leaves no quarter for any ship that crosses. If the crew is lucky, maybe one would survive to deliver a message.

Jamie Moriarty doesn’t sail a ship with a black flag of skull and crossbones. She sails her ship with no flag at all or a flag that bleeds  _red_.

Joan rubs her shoulder from when the captain had twisted it during their sword fight. She moves over to the carefully marked cabinet full of balms and vials. Slipping out of her thick coat, Joan takes the time to go through the vials for something to ease her pain.

There is a combination of herbs and oils that Joan recognizes to pull together for a salve.

As she tugs the strings to her ruffled shirt, she hears the door creak open.

Even without looking, Joan recognizes the presence of the woman whose quarters she had been sharing for a week’s time.

There’s a dull thump on the table and Joan turns her head from the cabinet to see her bicorne hat lay limp on the table. She quirks a look at the captain as she continues to rub the salve on her sore shoulder.

The blonde woman slinks over to her with quiet footsteps before placing her hands on Joan’s upper arms.

“Do you require assistance?” the captain asks as she drops her head slightly towards Joan’s exposed shoulder.

The commodore rolls her eyes and shrugs out of the taller woman’s grasp. She takes the salve with her. “I think you’ve done  _enough_ ,” she snaps quickly.

Moriarty’s face turns stoic briefly before her sinister smile graces her lips and she walks into Joan’s space once more. This time, she rests against the table with her arms crossed, peering at the salve.

“I didn’t realize you were a  _doctor_ , commodore,” she engages nonchalantly.

Again, Joan rolls her eyes, “You  _knew_ this already.” Jamie Moriarty always seems to know everything about everyone. Her mind was as well crafted in constructing piracy as well as deconstructing those around her.

The captain shrugs and lets Joan continue. She quietly observes.

“Is there something that you needed,  _captain_?” Joan snaps as she feels the salve cool against her shoulder comfortably. She slips the shirt back on her shoulder before tying the strings.

Moriarty feigns a wounded expression before crooning, “Surely, you shouldn’t be cross with me, Joan. After all, I’ll admit you’ve bested me and allowed for the freedom of your men.” Her hands come down onto the table and she leans against it. “Your life, for theirs. I think that’s  _fair_.”

This makes Joan sneer. She stands before the captain as she slouches against the table to meet Joan’s eyes. “You have more than their lives to pay for.”

Moriarty tilts her head curiously at Joan. “What more do I have to pay for? There is no crime that I’ve committed that was unwarranted.”

“ _Unwarranted_ crimes?” Joan returns with shock across her face. “You have  _slain_ men and women,  _looted_ thousands of pounds worth of cargo, and  _destroyed_ ships without hesitation. You are telling me those are  _not_ criminal?”

Moriarty smirks and stands up straight to tower over Joan once more. “It is the law you abide by that calls me a criminal. I am an  _entrepreneur_. You know as well as I do that none of the ships that harbored those men and women were as innocent as you’d  _like_ to think they were.” She walks to her wardrobe and pulls her shirt over her head.

Joan tries not to stare as the expanse of the other woman’s pale back nor does she try to notice the scars littered here and there.

“We all have a purpose in this life, Joan, whether you choose to see it or not, people die eventually,” Moriarty continues as she throws the dirty ruffled shirt on a small pile in the closet before pulling out another cleaner one. She pulls it over her head and turns to face the commodore. “Those people have lived their purpose. Otherwise, they’d  _not_ cross my path.”

“You can’t choose who lives and who dies because of who crosses your path,” Joan argues. “You don’t get to decide that nor do you get to take their lives. Who do you think you are if not mortal?”

Moriarty doesn’t counter but her eyes turn icy.

It leaves Joan stunned. Joan sees it now, why Moriarty is  _the Pirate_. Why criminals and traitors rush to Moriarty in their time of need. Moriarty feels absolutely  _nothing_. She calculates everything and cuts the losses.

It terrifies her and fascinates her all the same.

\-------------------------------

Joan wakes up in the captain’s quarter with the sound of scratching subtly pulling her from her slumber.

She sits up to see the blonde woman standing at her desk with a map laid out before her. The feather scratches a long path before she picks up the sextant.

“Considering your stay will be on the more permanent end, you should fall in with the rest of the crew,” Moriarty says as she turns to look out the window. The sun is blinding as Moriarty opens the curtains for a better view.

Joan kicks her feet to the side of the bed and sees a set of new clothes resting on the chair next to her. “What will I have to be  _doing_ as part of your crew?”

Joan can see the pirate tilt her head out the window before muttering something to herself. She stands up and feels the waves beat against the moving ship. It was a wonder she could rest so easily in the captain’s quarters as if she was on land.

The clothing laid out for her were as simple as the captain’s, picking up the shirt, she suspects it’s actually the captain’s clothing. Joan furrows her brows wondering if it was proper.

Nevertheless, she drops her slip to trade for the breeches and tunic left for her. They are a bit larger than Joan’s small frame but they are comfortable regardless. She slips into her boots before tying the tunic properly.

“Report to Ortiz, she will show you how to properly maintain my ship,” Moriarty says as she turns back to the desk.

Upon seeing Joan dressed, Moriarty beams. _It is her clothes_. Joan nods and leaves the room quickly, leaving little room for banter.  

When she goes onto the deck, she finds Ortiz sitting on the railing from the upper deck barking orders left and right. Everyone in the crew knows their tasks and moves to function efficiently on the ship. There are a few crew members scrubbing the decks, maintaining the masts, reorganizing the barrels, and even a few members offering food to the working crew.

“Ah,  _Commodore_ ,” Ortiz greets with a gentle roll of her Rs. It was hard to miss the Castillian in her voice as she spoke to the crew. “By all means, join me up here.”

Joan nods dubiously but finds her way up to the upper deck where Manning has taken the helm.

“Gooday,  _Commodore_ ,” Manning also greets, her English accent slurred and casual as opposed to Moriarty’s refined one.

“So what exactly am I supposed to do?” Joan asks with curiosity as she watches the crew continue their trained movements. For a pirate ship, Moriarty’s crew was surprisingly well kept.

Ortiz shrugs. “Not much left for you to do. Sometimes, I don’t even have to tell them what to do. They already know. They just ask questions concerning supplies.”

Joan raises an eyebrow and looks over at Manning who shrugs in agreement. “So why would the captain send me out here if there is nothing to do?”

“Would you like to  _entertain_ her?” Manning spares nothing in her tone for Joan as it comes off as an innuendo.

“I’d rather not.”

Ortiz laughs at this with a slap of her knee. “She’s got a bite this one. Like a tiger.” She does a little playful roar at Joan.

The commodore huffs, being teased was not what she came up here for.

“Relax, commodore,” Manning insists as she holds the steering loosely. “The captain likes her quarters empty when she is working. We just wait for her command really.”

Joan crosses her arms. “What is she working on?”

“Finding our next stop,” Ortiz answers simply. “At least before our destination.”

“And  _where_ exactly are we headed?”

Manning and Ortiz look at each other, debating whether or not they should answer. Technically Joan was still an outsider, of course, she understood their reservations.

“She might as well know since the captain has no intention of letting her off anyways,” Manning reasons without much care.

Ortiz purses her lips and answers with a nod of agreement, “We are going to find the fountain of youth.”


End file.
